Upholstery spring attachment clip fok furniture



June 6, 1967 o. P. STERNER UPHOLSTERY SPRING ATTACHMENT CLIP FOR FURNITURE Filed May 24, 1965 INVENTOR OLLE E STERNER United States Patent 3,323,183 UPHOLSTERY SPRING ATTACHlVIENT CLIP FOR FURNITURE Olle P. Sterner, Park Ridge, Ill., assignor to Signode Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 24, 1965, Ser. No. 458,251 4 Claims. (Cl. 2485) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A unitary sheet metal attachment clip for upholstery springs, the clip having a flat base part with a hole therein and a flat upper part with a prong thereon. By striking the upper part with an impact tool such as a hammer, the prong is driven through the hole and into the wooden side frame of an article of furniture, thus causing the clip to encircle the adjacent end of the upholstery spring and provide an anchor therefor.

The present invention relates to furniture upholstery hardware and has particular reference to a novel spring attachment clip by means of which, in combination with a similar clip, the opposite ends of an upholstery supporting spring may be conveniently attached to the opposite side frames of an article of furniture such as a chair, sofa, settee or the like.

In the furniture upholstery art there has long been used a type of upholstery-supporting spring commonly known as a zig-zag spring. Such a spring, as the name implies, consists of a length of heavy gauge wire stock bent to serpentine configuration and then coiled in involute fashion for storage and shipment purposes. When put to use, the spring is uncoiled and stretched across the seat portion of an article of furniture such as a chair, the laterally extending ends of the spring being secured to the opposite wooden side frames of the chair by means of metal clips which are commonly known as furniture clips. The coil bias of the spring and the degree of stretching required to bring the opposite ends of the spring into contact with the side frames leaves the finally installed spring in an arched state conformable with the curvature of the finished padded upholstery seat which is applied over the spring after the latter has been installed, it being understood, of course that a number of the springs are applied across the open seat opening in parallelism and in closely spaced relationship to afford a grid-like crown over which the padding and upholstery is stretched before being nailed or otherwise secured to the side frames.

There are at the present time upon the market a wide variety of furniture clips designed for the purposes briefly outlined above. Basically however, both as regards their design and their mode of attachment to the wooden side frames, such clips are similar and each comprises a sheet metal stamping of generally Lshaped configuration having a long base leg provided with nail-receiving holes therein, and a reentrant bend affording a short overlying leg. The long leg is adapted to be nailed or stapled in face-to-face contact with the upper horizontal surface of a wooden side frame and the rcentrant bend and overlying leg constitute, in effect, a hook portion for receiving therein the laterally turned end of a zig-zag spring. In order to prevent the laterally turned end of the spring from moving outwardly from the clip when the spring is loaded during normal chair usage, the long leg is formed with nail or staple receiving slots which underlie the overlying leg and this latter leg is formed with nail or staple receiving holes therein in vertical register with the slots so that nails or a staple may be driven downwardly through the holes and slots after spring installation to capture the adjacent end of the spring.

Although furniture clips of this general character have been employed for many years, they nevertheless are possessed of certain limitations. Principal among these is the difficulty involved in installing them, whether the installation be made by means of nails or staples. Frequently, Where manual installation involving the use of a hammer is concerned, a misguided blow of the hammer intended to drive a nail or staple through the long base leg of a given clip will flatten the overlying leg against the base leg so that the clip must be discarded and a new one employed. The use of separate nails or staples also is a timeconsuming operation, especially where as many as four nails are required for the installation of a single clip, a hole-locating procedure being required for each nail that is used. Additionally, conventional furniture clips such as have briefly been outlined above are not readily susceptible to automatic magazine or power tool feeding and nailing or stapling procedures. Although actual magazine feeding of the clips may not present a problem, the necessity of employing a separate magazine feed for the nails or staples, and of obtaining register between the nail holes and the securing nails or staples does present a problem and furthermore it involves the design of a relatively complicated power tool for handling both the clips and the securing devices, whether nails or staples.

The present invention is designed to overcome the above-noted limitations that are attendant upon the use of conventional furniture clips and, toward this end, the invention contemplates the provision of a novel furniture clip in which the securing means therefor is embodied in the clip itself so that no separate nails, staples or other fastening devices are required for its installation. The provision of such a furniture clip constitutes one of the principal objects of the present invention.

A further and important object of the invention is to provide such a clip, having associated integral fastening means, in which the fastening means is effective not only to attain initial application of the clip in spring-receiving position on the associated side frame, but also is effective, after the adjacent spring end has been applied to the clip, to close the clip securely upon the spring end, thus providing a rigid structure in which the spring end is securely captured.

A further limitation that is attendant upon the construction and use of conventional furniture clips resides in the accuracy which is required when driving the nails or staple through the two legs of the clips. In driving any nail, staple or other fastening means, a substantially square blow of the hammer or other impact tool is required to drive the nail shank or staple shanks endwise into the Wood. A glancing blow will invariably tilt the nail or staple, so that, in the case of a furniture clip, the upper overlying leg will become displaced or deformed. The furniture clip of the present invention obviates this ditficulty in that no particular pains need be taken to attain a square blow at the time the overlying leg of the clip is secured in position, the fastening means therefor being in the form of an integral shank portion which, by reason of its integral association with the overlying leg is guided in its endwise movements into the wood, regardless of the direction of a secondary reinforcement for the lower leg of the clipafter the upper leg has been driven to its home position, the reinforcement augmenting the fastening action of the fastening means for the lower leg by providing a line of clamping contact with the lower leg extending transversely and coextensively across the rear portion of the lower leg.

A further advantageous feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a furniture clip in which the body portion of the clip is adequately reinforced, especially along the edge regions thereof where the blows of the impact tool employed for its installation are struck, thus resulting in a clip which will withstand rough usage during installation without becoming deformed, as is the case with conventional furniture clips.

The provision of a furniture clip which lends itself to mass production by a simple stamping and punching operation from flat sheet metal stock, thereby contributing to low cost; one which is readily adaptable to magazine feed and power tool application, as well as to individual manual application; one which requires less skill for its application than most conventional furniture clips designed for the same purpose; and one which otherwise is well adapted to perform the services required of it, are further desirable features which have been borne in mind in the production and development of the present invention.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, not at this time enumerated, will become readily apparent as the following description ensues.

In the accompanying single sheet of drawings forming a part of this specification, one illustrative embodiment of the invention has been shown.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially centrally and transversely through the seat portion of an upholstered chair and showing a conventional furniture clip, as well as one of the furniture clips of the present invention, operatively applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the furniture clips of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the furniture clip;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 6--6 of FIG. 4, the sectioned clip being shown in relation to other like clips and secured to a strip of magazine tape. i

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, an article of furniture in the form of an upholstered chair 10, fragment-arily shown, embodies a series of furniture clips 12 constructed according to the principles of the present invention, as well as a conventional furniture clip 14. The chair is provided with the usual padded upholstery 16 and this upholstery is supported upon and reinforced by a series of so-called zig-zag springs 18 in a manner well known in the art.

The springs 18 are formed from wire stock and they are generally of serpentine configuration. In a longitudinal direction the springs are upwardly bowed as clearly shown in FIG. 1 and the opposite end regions of the springs are supported upon the wooden side rails 20 of the chair by means of the furniture clips 12 and 14 in a manner that will be described in detail presently. The various furniture clips are arranged on the side rails 20 in opposed pairs with adjacent clips on each rail being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the overall width of the springs 18 so that an arched grid-like platform support for the upholstery 16 is provided which lends support to the upholstery throughout substantially its entire seating area. In the fragmentary disclosure of FIG. 1, only the two side rails 20, the back rail 22 and portions of the rear chair legs 24 appear but it will be understood that the complete chair framework will include a front rail, front chair legs, a back rest frame, and any other functional elements which may be dictated by the design of the chair.

The springs 18 are of the type commonly referred to in the furniture upholstery art as zig-zag springs and these springs include serpentine body portions 24 with laterally turned end regions 26 designed for attachment to the chair side rails 20 or, alternatively, to the front and back rails. Such springs are supplied in tightly coiled form and, in the installation thereof, they are uncoiled and stretched between respective pairs of furniture clips on opposite sides of the chair frame, a manually operable stretching tool being employed to overcome the relatively strong coil bias. Thus, when the opposite end regions 26 are finally secured in position on the chair frame, the aforementioned arched platform support which is provided is curved on a fairly large radius and it provides a yieldable or springy support for the upholstery 16.

The functional advantages of the present upholstery clip 12 may be better appreciated by a comparison with the conventional clip 14 which, although illustrated herein as having a specific form, is not unlike a wide variety of similar conventional clips, both in construction and function. Briefly, the clip 14 is in the form of a sheet metal stamping of J-shape in longitudinal cross-section and having a lower base section or leg 30, a reentrant or bight section 32, and an overlying upper section or leg 34 of less longitudinal extent than the lower leg 30. The lower leg 30 is nailed to the upper side of the side frame 20 by a pair of screw nails, one of which is shown at 36 and which passes through preformed longitudinal slots 38 provided in this leg. The adjacent laterally turned end region 26 of the associated zig-zag spring 18 is hooked behind the bight portion 32 and, thereafter the upper leg 34 is secured in position by a second pair of nails, one of which is shown at 40, and which pass through holes in the leg 34 and also through the slots 38 in the leg 30.

Installation of the furniture clip 14 requires considerable ,skill on the part of the workman who, in driving the nails 36, must take pains not to strike the upper leg 34. Additionally, care must be taken in driving the nails 40 to prevent tilting thereof and consequent deformation or longitudinal shifting of the upper leg 34 with respect to the lower leg 30.

Referring now, additionally, to FIGS. 3 to 6 inclusive, the furniture clip 12 of the present invention is in the form of a one-piece integral sheet metal stamping presenting a flat body portion 50 which is connected to an overlying portion 52 by a reentrant bend 54. In the free state of the clip 12, the overlying portion 52 is disposed at a small angle to the plane of the base portion 50. The forward edge of the overlying portion 52 is turned downwardly to provide a reinforcing and clamping flange 56, which in the operation of the clip, serves a function that will be described presently. The forward edge of the base portion 50 likewise is turned downwardly to provide a flange 57 and a pair of pointed securing prongs 58 are formed on the flange '57 in spaced relationship. The prongs are of wide angle V-shape cross section to enhance the rigidity of the clip.

A single centrally disposed pointed prong 60 projects downwardly from the lower edge of the flange 56 and normally is in vertical register with a circular hole 62 provided in the medial region of the base portion 50.

The furniture clip 12 of the present invention is particularly suited for application by a power tool or press although, of course, it may, if desired, be applied by a suitable hand tool such as a hammer. In applying the furniture clip 12 to the side frame 20, the area 64 (FIG. '3) of the base portion 50 which overhangs or projects forwardly beyond the forward edge of the upper overlying portion 52 constitutes an impact surface by means of which the two prongs 58, and also the downturned flange 57, may be driven into the wooden material of the side frame, the width of the clip being less than the diameter of the impact surface provided on the particular tool employed.

It will be understood that normal upholstery procedure involves the installation of clips 12 in opposed pairs on the opposed side frame 20 in the usual manner of installation. Initial application of the clip 12 to the side frame 20 does not involve deformation of the overlying portion 52 which remains in its elevated inclined position above the base portion 50. Stretching of the spring 18 between any given pair of opposed clips may be accomplished by first causing one laterally turned end 26 of the spring to be hooked within the reentrant bend 54 of one clip, after which the spring may be stretched to causesufiicient linear elongation thereof that the other laterally turned end may be hooked behind the reentrant bend 54 of the opposing clip. Release of tension will allow this end to snap into position within the clip. The medial region of the spring 18- will then assume its arched condition as illustrated in FIG. 1. Such stretching of the spring may be accomplished with the aid of a conventional stretching tool which constitutes part of the equipment of the average upholstery shop.

It should be observed that the vertical distance from the lower end of the prong 60 to the plane of the base portion 50 is greater than the diameter of the wire employed in forming the spring so that entrance of the laterally turned ends of the spring into the confines of the opposed clips may readily be effected.

It should also be observed that because the flange 57, as well as the two prongs 58, are driven firmly into the wood of the side frame 20 and are thus securely anchored therein, lateral shifting of the clip under the pushing or pulling force of the spring 18, as the case may be, will be effectively prevented.

After the spring has thus been stretched and applied to a pair of opposed furniture clips 12, a second blow may be exerted by a hammer to the outer edge region of the overlying portion 52 of each clip to drive the pointed prong 60 downwardly through the hole 62 and thus into the wood of the associated side frame 20. At such time the lower edge of the depending flange 56 will be forced into engagement with the forward region of the base portion 50 on opposite sides of the hole 62, thereby augmenting the fastening action of the two prongs 58 and of the downwardly turned web or flange portion 57.

Reference to the dotted line disclosure of FIG. 6 will show that as the prong 60 enters the hole 62 it assumes an inclination with respect to a vertical plane so that when it is finally driven to its home position, it resists any pulling action which may be occasioned by the rim of the hole due to possible deterioration of the Wood of the side frame 20 over a period of time, or due to the presence of a soft spot in the wood at the region where the prongs 58 and flange 57 enter the same. This resistance to pull may be resembled to the function of a nail which is employed for picture-hanging purposes, the nail being invariably driven into the wall on an inclined bias.

As generally shown in FIG. 1, when the prong 60 enters the hole 62 and is driven therethrough and into the wood of the side frame 20, the flange 56, together with the overlying portion 52, the base portion 50 and the reentrant bend 54, establish a closed structure which encircles the adjacent end of the spring 18 and thus captures it so that downward pressure upon the arched portion of the spring will not spread the ends of the spring apart and cause the adjacent end of the spring to move outwardly from beneath the overlying portion 52 of the clip.

In FIG. 6, the adaptability of the present clip to magazine loading and feeding for application by a power tool has been illustrated. A series of clips 12 are shown as being applied to a strip of magazine tape 70. The clips are aligned and applied to the adhesive side of the tape so that they make line contact at 72 Where the curved reentrant bend engages the tape, and so that they make point contact at the end of each pointed prong 58. The tape may thus be employed as a storage tape in the case of manual application of the clips, or as a severable magazine tape in the case of pneumatic or other power tool application.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, whereas the furniture clip of the present invention has been illustrated and described herein as being applied to the side frame of a chair for retaining the laterally turned end of a spring which is arched transversely between two such side frames, the clip obviously is capable of being applied to either the front or rear frame member of the chair for retaining the laterally turned end of a spring which is arched between such frame members in the longitudinal direction of the chair seat. Therefore, only insofar as the invention has particularly been pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An integral one-piece furniture clip for securing the laterally turned end of an upholstery spring to the wooden side frame of an article of furniture, said clip comprising a sheet metal stamping of generally J-shape in longitudinal cross section and providing a substantially flat generally rectangular base portion adapted to be positioned in faceto-face contact with the upper horizontal surface of a frame bar associated with an article of furniture, an upper substantially flat generally rectangular overlying portion of less longitudinal extent than the base portion, and a deformable interconnecting reentrant bend adapted to receive the spring end therein, the forward distal edge of said base portion being formed with a narrow downturned wood-penetrating prong adapted to be driven into said side frame for retaining the base portion seated on said side frame, said base portion being formed with a medially disposed opening therethrough, the forward distal edge of said overlying portion being formed with a narrow laterally turned wood-penetrating prong which normally overlies said opening and is adapted to be driven substantially vertically through said opening and thereafter into the side frame when said base portion is seated on the latter, the general plane of said latter wood-penetrating prong at all times intersecting the distal edge of said flat overlying portion, said prongs constituting the sole means for retaining the furniture clip on said side frame.

2. A furniture clip for securing the laterally turned end of an upholstery spring to the wooden side frame of an article of furniture, said clip comprising a sheet metal stamping of generally J-shape in longitudinal cross section and providing a substantially flat generally rectangular base portion adapted to be positioned in face-to-face contact with the upper horizontal surface of a frame bar associated with an article of furniture, an upper overlying portion of less longitudinal extent than the base portion, and an interconnecting reentrant bend adapted to receive the spring end therein, the forward distal edge of said overlying portion being provided with a downturned reinforcing flange substantially coextensive with said edge, the forward distal edge of said base portion being formed with a pair of laterally spaced narrow downturned wood-penetrating prongs adapted to be driven into said side frame for retaining the base portion seated on said side frame, said base portion being formed with a medially disposed opening therethrough, the lower edge of said downturned flange being formed with a medially disposed depending prong in vertical register with said opening and adapted to be driven through the opening and into the side frame when the base portion is seated on the latter.

3. A furniture clip for securing the laterally turned end of an upholstery spring to the wooden side frame of an article of furniture, said clip comprising a sheet metal stamping of generally J-shape in longitudinal cross section and providing a substantially flat generally rectangular base portion adapted to be positioned in face-to-face contact with the upper horizontal surface of a frame bar associated with an article of furniture, an upper overlying portion of less longitudinal extent than the base portion, and an interconnecting reentrant bend adapted to receive the spring end therein, the forward distal edges of said overlying and base portions each being provided with a coextensive downturned reinforcing flange, the lower'edge of the flange on said base portion being provided with a pair of laterally spaced narrow depending wood-penetrating prongs adapted to be driven into said side frame for retaining the base portion seated on said side frame, said base portion being formed with a medially disposed opening therethrough, the lower edge of said downturned flange on the overlying portion being formed With a medially disposed depending prong in vertical register with said opening and adapted to be driven through the opening and into the side frame when the base portion is seated on the latter.

4. A furniture clip as set forth in claim 3 and wherein the depending prongs on the downturned flange of the 3 base portion are each of wide angle V-shape in transverse cross section.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 623,655 4/1899 Cox. 1,462,671 7/ 1923 Vrba. 2,716,442 8/1955 Larson et a1 267-111 FOREIGN PATENTS 612,775 1/1961 Canada. 386,421 1/ 1933 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Examiner. 

1. AN INTEGRAL ONE-PIECE FURNITURE CLIP FOR SECURING THE LATERALLY TURNED END OF AN UPHOLSTERY SPRING TO THE WOODEN SIDE FRAME OF AN ARTICLE OF FURNITURE, SAID CLIP COMPRISING A SHEET METAL STAMPING OF GENERALLY J-SHAPE IN LONGITUDINAL CROSS SECTION AND PROVIDING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT GENERALLY RECTANGULAR BASE PORTION ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED IN FACETO-FACE CONTACT WITH THE UPPER HORIZONTAL SURFACE OF A FRAME BAR ASSOCIATED WITH AN ARTICLE OF FURNITURE, AN UPPER SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT GENERALLY RECTANGULAR OVERLYING PORTION OF LESS LONGITUDINAL EXTENT THAN THE BASE PORTION, AND A DEFORMABLE INTERCONNECTING REENTRANT BEND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE SPRING END THEREIN, THE FORWARD DISTAL EDGE OF SAID BASE PORTION BEING FORMED WITH A NARROW DOWNTURNED WOOD-PENETRATING PRONG ADAPTED TO BE DRIVEN INTO SAID SIDE FRAME FOR RETAINING THE BASE PORTION SEATED ON SAID SIDE FRAME, SAID BASE PORTION BEING FORMED WITH A MEDIALLY DISPOSED OPENING THERETHROUGH, THE FORWARD DISTAL EDGE OF SAID OVERLYING PORTION BEING FORMED WITH A NARROW LATERALLY TURNED WOOD-PENETRATING PRONG WHICH NORMALLY OVERLIES SAID OPENING AND IS ADAPTED TO BE DRIVEN SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY THROUGH SAID OPENING AND THEREAFTER INTO THE SIDE FRAME WHEN SAID BASE PORTION IS SEATED ON THE LATTER, THE GENERAL PLANE OF SAID LATTER WOOD-PENETRATING PRONG AT ALL TIMES INTERSECTING THE DISTAL EDGE OF SAID FLAT OVERLYING PORTION, SAID PRONGS CONSTITUTING THE SOLE MEANS FOR RETAINING THE FURNITURE CLIP ON SAID SIDE FRAME. 